Gucci opened the doors to its new Tyson’s Galleria location with a bang- a party hosted by artist John Legend.
Artist John Legend with Judge William T. Newman and Sheila Johnson at the opening of Gucci in Tyson's Galleria. Photo courtesy of Tony Powell.
Gucci celebrated the recent opening of its new store at Tysons Galleria with a private cocktail party hosted by music artist John Legend. The 4,770 square foot space boasts a brand new design conceived by Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini. The space showcases a wide collection of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, jewelry and accessories. The store’s warm atmosphere is created by signature Gucci materials of rosewood and marble- along with some new additions, such as ribbed glass, warm polished gold, smoked mirror and smoked bronze glass. The overall effect is reminiscent the elegance and richness of the Art Deco era.
The November 10th event benefited the Show Me Campaign with a ten percent contribution of the evening’s sales towards the nonprofit organization. Started by host John Legend, the organization’s name is inspired by his song “Show Me.” The innovative campaign strives to break the cycle of poverty by fighting for equal access to quality education in the United States.
The luxurious interior of Gucci's Tyson Galleria store. Photo courtesy of Tony Powell.
Security at the door was tight, but once inside the intimate cocktail party was quite the place to see and be seen with society photogs snapping away and the D.C. area’s younger set networking and browsing Gucci’s new resort line – multitasking at it’s finest! Waiters passed small hors d’oeuvres as well as trays full of Champaign flutes and other light-colored adult beverages in what was surely an attempt to prevent guests from ruining any of the Italian luxury goods that ringed the store in display cases, and for which Gucci is most famous.
Another bold name face in the crowd, besides Legend of course, was interim D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who stood with the Grammy-winning singer while he made a brief speech on the importance of the Show Me Campaign. After the speeches, anxious attendees formed a line looping the store for a photo op with Legend, who very graciously greeted each person and made sure everyone got their photo before he left.
Aba Kwawu with Tysons Galleria GM Rich Dinning and Jill Hudson Neal. Photo courtesy of Tony Powell.
